Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour

On the 11/13/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:The GTFO poetry collective composed of Kay Miller, Anthony Robles, and Anthony Xavier Jackson join the show to discuss the release of their inaugural GTFO Journal, An Anthology of Sacramento Poets. Anthony Robles discusses GTFO’s goals of bringing the community together by giving local authors publication opportunities. Kay Miller shares some of their favorite Sacramento metro area open mics. Anthony Xavier Robles gives insight into the publication process and an event at Self Designs Art Gallery this Wednesday. Kay Miller then shares a poem, “It’s 9:30 P.M. On a Tuesday and I’m Trying to Remember a Password.” The next guest on the show is Nancy Miller Gomez, who delineates her consistent effort to further her poetic craft. She elaborates on her academic journey obtaining her MFA at Pacific University, citing studying under many great poets as supporting her writing growth. Miller Gomez also discusses the release of her new book, Inconsolable Objects. She then shares two poems, “How are we doing?” and “Tilt-a-Whirl,” which appeared in the 2021 anthology Best American Poetry.Anthony Xavier Jackson has been writing poems and songs since his teens, drawing inspiration from sci-fi, myths, all genres of music, and all manner of spiritual pursuits. He works in an ongoing manner on publishing his poetry and continuing to produce music to accompany his poems and songs. Anthony is also a recent winner of Sacramento Poetry Week’s Annual Poetry contest.Anthony Robles is a minimalist poet who aims to exploit the haiku and cinqauin forms. He is also a contributor to the Sacramento Poetry Day Curriculum. Kay Miller, a narrative poet from Sacramento, and has been captivating audiences with their poetry for decades. Their work offers a raw glimpse into the America in Sacramento, seen through liquor store windows and dirty car mirrors. Kay’s art serves as a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of  LGBTQA+ perspectives in poetry.Nancy Miller Gomez is the author of Inconsolable Objects (YesYes Books) and Punishment (Rattle chapbook series). Her work has appeared in Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, Prairie Schooner, Lit Hub, The Adroit Journal, New Ohio Review, The Rumpus, Rattle, Verse Daily, and elsewhere. She received a special mention in the 2023 Pushcart Prize Anthology. She co-founded an organization that provides writing workshops to incarcerated women and men and has taught poetry in Prisons, Jails, and the Juvenile Hall. She lives in Santa Cruz, California. More at www.nancymillergomez.com.The Poetry Night Reading Series takes place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s projects visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 11/6/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Julia B. Levine joins Dr. Andy in conversation after her 2024 Pushcart Prize win, stating the gratitude and shock she felt upon winning. She then shares high praise for her peer Murray Silverstein, who will be reading with her at the Poetry Night Reading Series on November 7th, 2024. Levine then shares a poem centered around joy titled “The Dove.” She also recommends John Murillo’s collection Kontemperary Amerikan Poetry. The next guest on the show, Natalie Shapero, phones in to discuss her upcoming reading at Shields Library, and her excitement to see the trees of Davis, California. Shapero describes her poetic life and career from Washington D.C, to Boston, and now to California. She thereafter shares the thematic throughlines of her most recent collection, Popular Longing, a collection that outlines the power dynamics at play within the financial structures of art institutions. Shapero then shares two poems, “My Hair is My Thing” and “Magpie.”  Shapero also discusses the natural time it takes her to assemble a collection of poetry,Julia B. Levine is the poet laureate emerita of Davis, California. Levine’s poetry has won many awards, including a 2021 Nautilus Award for her fifth poetry collection, Ordinary Psalms (LSU press, 2021), as well as the 2015 Northern California Book Award in Poetry for her fourth collection, Small Disasters Seen in Sunlight (LSU, 2014). Recently she has won the 2024 Pushcart Prize, the 2023 Oran Perry Burke Award from The Southern Review, the 2022 Steve Kowit Poetry Prize, the 2020 Bellevue Literary Review Poetry Award, as well as a 2022 American Academy of Poetry Poet Laureate Fellowship for her work in building resilience in teenagers related to climate change through poetry, science and technology. Her work has appeared in many literary journals, including Ploughshares, The Southern Review, The Missouri Review, The Nation and Prairie Schooner. She earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from University of California, Berkeley and an MFA in poetry from Pacific University.Natalie Shapero was born in Chester, Pennsylvania and earned a BA in Writing Seminars from the Johns Hopkins University, an MFA in Poetry from the Ohio State University, and a JD from the University of Chicago. For the 2011-2012 year, Shapero served as the Steven Gey Fellow with Americans United for Separation of Church and State. She is the author of the poetry collections No Object (Saturnalia, 2013), Hard Child (Copper Canyon Press, 2017), and Popular Longing (Copper Canyon Press, 2021). Her writing has appeared in The Believer, The New Republic, Poetry, The Progressive, and elsewhere, and she is an editor at the Kenyon Review. In 2012-2014, she was a Kenyon Review fellow. Shapero teaches at Tufts University. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches writing at UC Irvine.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 10/30/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Vincent Kobelt calls in to share about his upcoming reading at the Kings and Queens of Poetry event in Sacramento. Kobelt discusses his undergraduate experience at UC Davis and how he came about poetry in academia. He cites discussing work among his classmates in a Sandra McPherson poem as a main mechanism that helped him grow as a young writer. He then reads a poem “Allentown,” a recently authored piece. Kobelt also describes the poetry album he released last year, A Pinch of Salt. Sarah Pape is the next guest on the show, and she phones in with exciting news of her debut poetry collection, Forgive the Animal. Pape states that the publication of her book feels like closing the circle, as some of the poems and ideas in the book are over a decade old. She also discusses her hardy revision process with her manuscript, saying she is grateful for all of the poets in her life who helped along the way. Pape then shares the collection’s first poem “Kin,” which was spawned from a prompt she gave her students. She also delineates her constant attempt to be present in our “dailiness” to improve her vocabulary before sharing another poem, “A Gardener’s Guide to the End.”Vincent Kobelt’s early work explored the murals of the Mission where he grew up, the music of jazz, a cry for justice, the birth of my daughters, the milkweed in the cracks of concrete, the music of speaking between people, and bird shit on the sidewalks of the city.  For some time now Kobelt has been experimenting with poetry that lends itself to musical accompaniment.  This can be seen in his work with Fo’shang at Sacramento’s Earth Day, Catchakoala at the MET, and with KME Band at the Oak Park Farmers Market in Sacramento.  Recently Kobelt started an Open Mic in Sacramento at the Classy Hippy on the Third Thursday of the Month. Sarah Pape teaches English creative writing and coordinates the Literary Editing and Publishing program at Chico State. Her poetry and prose have recently been published in: The New York Times, New England Review, Passages North, Ecotone, and others. Her debut poetry collection, Forgive the Animal, was published last month by Cornerstone Press. She curates community literary programming at the 1078 Gallery in Chico and is a member of the Community of Writers. The Poetry Night Reading Series takes place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 10/23/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:William O’Daly calls in to discuss his love of reading poetry to live Jazz. Specifically, he talks about his upcoming reading, at which he will be sharing poems from his latest release, The New Gods.  O’Daly shares a poem about his daughter’s graduation, “Handout” before sharing the exciting news that he is transitioning away from his occupation to focus on living a life even more committed to writing. Dr. V.S. Chochezi is the next guest on the show. She describes the background of her mother-daughter poetry performance duo Straight Out Scribes, which started one night in Oakland, California. Dr. Chochezi also delineates how she aims to incorporate social justice into her poetry readings and writing processes. The last guest on the show is Patrick Grizzell, who joins Dr.Andy to remember the late Sacramento poet B.L. Kennedy. Grizzell recalls the impact Kennedy had on Sacramento, its poetry scene, and poetry publications.  William O’Daly has translated nine books of Chilean Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda’s poetry, most recently Neruda’s first volume, Book of Twilight. He has published four chapbooks of poems and, in 2022, his first full-length volume, The New Gods, with Beltway Editions. A National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, he has received national and regional awards and honors for his poetry and translations, literary editing, and instructional design. In September 2021, he received the American Literary Award from the bilingual Korean American journal Miju Poetry and Poetics. O’Daly is the Lead Writer for the California Water Plan.Dr. V.S. Chochezi is a writer, poet, artist, photojournalist, and college professor. She is the daughter member of Straight Out Scribes (Staajabu is the mother member), a renowned mother/daughter spoken word duo who have self-published eight books of poetry, one sci-fi anthology and two CD compilations. They have produced and coordinated a number of writing, poetry and art related programs and workshops in Sacramento since 1991.Patrick Grizzell is a songwriter, poet, journalist, and visual artist. His books include Dark Music, 13 Poems, It's Like That, and The Goat of Esmerelda. He was a founding member & current director of the Sacramento Poetry Center and serves as an editor for its publications. He has performed music and poetry with, among others, Leon Redbone, Jim Ringer, Ed Sanders, Allen Ginsberg, and Anne Waldman. Grizzell is the primary songwriter for Proxy Moon, a popular Sacramento group that is about to begin recording its 2nd collection of songs.The Poetry Night Reading Series takes place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 10/16/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Tim Hunt joins to share about his post-retirement writing habits, outlining that since retiring from the academy his poetry has not changed: rather, he just has more time to write. Hunt discusses the publication of his newest collection, Western Where, citing his California roots as a throughline throughout his work. He then shares two poems, “Rachel Lindsey Walks the Roads of Kansas Offering Poems for Bread” and “Rodeo Ride.” Thereafter, Michael Gallowglass phones in to discuss his upcoming reading at the John Natsoulas Gallery, where he is featuring and surprising his daughter for her birthday. Gallowglas shares a poem, “Under Martha’s Full Moon” and “How to Lose a Bad Woman on a Good Date” along with discussing past Irish poets.A fourth generation Californian, Tim Hunt was born in Calistoga and raised primarily in Sebastopol, two small towns north of San Francisco. Educated at Cornell University, he has taught American literature at several schools, including Washington State University and Deep Springs College. At the end of 2016, he retired from Illinois State University, where he was University Professor.  Hunt has published five collections of poetry: Fault Lines, The Tao of Twang,  Poem’s Poems & Other Poems, Ticket Stubs & Liner Notes (winner of the 2018 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award), and Voice to Voice in the Dark. Hunt has received five Pushcart Prize nominations, and been awarded the Chester H. Jones National Poetry Prize for the poem “Lake County Elegy.” In 2024, he saw the publication of his new book, titled Western Where.  Hunt’s scholarly publications include Kerouac’s Crooked Road: Development of a Fiction, The Textuality of Soulwork: Jack Kerouac’s Quest for Spontaneous Prose, and the five volumes of The Collected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers.  Michael Todd Gallowglas is a hybrid-author (with mainstream and alternative publications), storyteller, and educator from Northern California. Michael has written over 20 books, including novels, short story collections, poetry collections, and non-fiction books. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from Sierra Nevada College, and a Master in Fine Arts in Poetry from the University of Nevada Reno, Tahoe. The Poetry Night Reading Series takes place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 10/9/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Leslie Madsen joins Dr.Andy in an extended conversation about her career and their shared background as onetime graduate students at UC Davis. Madsen shares how she embraces her sense of impostor syndrome because of her nonlinear career path as a multidisciplinary scholar and educator. She describes the intersection and differentiation between her undergraduate and three graduate degrees. Madsen also delineates the effect the COVID-19 had on her work practices. She and Dr. Andy also discusses the impact Generative AI has had on planning for course work and Academic Integrity policies. Madsen then speaks on her new career at Oregon State University, one which pivoted her away from faculty development and towards gardening! Leslie Madsen is an educator who enjoys engaging with all kinds of people. Throughout her career, she has focused on designing inclusive, meaningful learning experiences—digital and analog—and leading teams that do the same. Her work as statewide manager of the OSU Extension Master Gardener Program builds on her extensive expertise and experience in formal and informal learning environments. Before arriving at OSU, Madsen served Boise State's students as an associate professor of History and supported faculty as associate director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. Her professional experience includes instructional design, faculty development, academic and emerging technologies, exhibition design, and open educational resources, as well as writing, marketing, and publishing. Madsens holds a Ph.D. in cultural studies and an M.A. in creative writing from the University of California, Davis. My B.A. is in English from Grinnell College.The Poetry Night Reading Series takes place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 8/7/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Laura Rosenthal starts off the show describing how her poetry has grown by being more conscious of her reader. She states that maturing throughout life has allowed her to scribe her most complex emotions in her writing. Rosenthal then shares a poem of praise, “Psalm.” Poet Connie Johnson joins next to discuss her recent entrance into the poetry world. She shares a poem, “Winter Relay” before discussing the thematics of her upcoming chapbook The River of Perpetual Departure. The last guest on the show is prominent Polish poet and scholar Kacper Bartczak. Bartczak describes his early poetry as playing off his personal experience and moving towards confession, and recent poetry as more experimental with language. He says both Polish and American poets have influenced his practice such as John Ashberry and Frank O’Hara. He then speaks on his experience as a university teacher and how he tries to show his students that writers in the Romantic era shifted the perception of nature.Laura Rosenthal is a recovering public interest lawyer and has published in Sacramento Voices, Tule Review, the Boog City Baseball Edition, Buddhist Poetry Review, Driftwood Press, and other journals. She leads workshops on writing and spiritual practice, has served as a senior editor of Tule Review, and is a member of the Community of Writers. In addition to degrees from Cornell University and Stanford Law School, Laura recently received her MFA in poetry from Pacific University.Poetry found Connie Johnstone in 2021; her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Ginosko Literary Journal, The Scarred Tree, Poetry of Moral Injury, Orchards Poetry Journal, Ravenous: le terroir du Montolieu, The Amethyst Review, The Tule Review, Loss Anthology 9, The Calendula Review, Journal of Narrative Medicine, Spoon Knife Anthology: Numbers, Voices 24: Anomalies, Pathologies & Paradise; and elsewhere. Her chapbook, The River of Perpetual Departure, will be out in 2025 from Kelsay Books. She published a novel, The Legend of Olivia Cosmos Montevideo (Atlantic Monthly Press); edited an anthology, I’ve Always Meant to Tell You (Pocket Books); was a professor of English and chair of creative writing at American River College; changed careers and was a hospice chaplain with Kaiser Permanente, specializing in Narrative Therapy. Degrees include MFA Bennington and MTS Harvard Divinity School. She lives and writes in Davis, CA.Kacper Bartczak is a Polish poet, scholar, and translator. Recent poetry volumes include Czas Kompost [Time Compost] (2023), Widoki wymazy (2021), Naworadiowa [Radionaves] (2019), Pokarm suweren [Food Sovereign] (2017), and Wiersze organiczne [Organic Poems](2015). He has translated and published volumes of poetry by Rae Armantrout, Charles Bernstein, and Peter Gizzi. and many other poets into Polish. In English translation, his poetry has appeared (or is forthcoming) in Poetry, Denver Quarterly, Interim, Berlin Quarterly, Aufgabe, Jacket2, and Lyric. He is an associate professor and department chair at the University of ŁódźFind out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 9/25/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Tom Trudgeon phones in to discuss the intersection of poetry and technology. Trudgeon asks Dr.Andy about the history of the podcast and how the program’s goals have evolved over time. He then explains his career as a UX content designer, where he tries to create webpages with familiar and instructive language to optimize user experience. Trudgeon then shares how his background as a poet influences his practice in his profession before reading a poem, “Category 853.” Emeritus professor Robert J Blake is the next guest on the show; he shared the details of his upcoming jazz event at the Davis Wine Bar. He also shares some of the history of his band the “The Midnight Jazz Trio.”Tom Trudgeon is a poet and UX Content Designer originally from Los Angeles. He's recently moved to Davis with his wife, who is a second year student at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. He received his bachelors in Literature and Music from UC San Diego, and received his MFA from Temple University in Philadelphia. He's won numerous academic awards including a teaching fellowship and tuition remission grant from Temple University, a UpennxTemple exchange fellowship, and the The Frances Tebet Israel Prize in Poetry for his MFA thesis Catalogue. His most recent publication was included in the anthology Best American Experimental Writing 2015 from Wesleyan University Press. Emeritus Robert J Blake is a former UC Davis Professor of Spanish and Portuguese. He taught from 1999-2021 and is a retired Spanish linguist. Blake has been an amateur jazz musician for the last 15 years with his band, “The Midnight Jazz Trio”, and is a Former student of Calvin Keys.The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 9/19/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Denise Hofffner and Sol Valdes call in to discuss their upcoming educational workshop “Pride in the Workplace.” As a former lawyer herself, Hoffner joins the Davis Phoenix Coalition to provide legislative aid and informational resources to LGBTQIA+ persons facing workplace discrimination. Valdes discusses the goals of their organization, which are to engage community, and to eliminate intolerance and hate-related violence. Poetry Night feature Tim Kahl then joins the show to discuss his new book Drips, Spills, Bursts, Tangles, and Washes, which is composed mainly of ten line poems. Kahl shares the inspiration behind all of the sound companion CD’s to his collections, and shares a poem called “The New Electricity.” He then details some of his many creative processes, such as taking newspaper strips, and making poems that talk to each other. Eve Imagine and her husband Paul Imagine are the next guests on the show. Eve shares the lengthy process of writing her debut book Body In Script, which she started drafting in 1999. She then reads an excerpt from the first chapter of the book titled “A Way a Woman Eats.”Denise Hoffner is an outreach coordinator at the Davis Phoenix Coalition’s CCWOP (California Covid Worker Outreach Project). Sol Valdes is the Office Coordinator for the Davis Phoenix Coalition, and works closely with the organization’s youth group.Tim Kahl is the author of Possessing Yourself (CW Books, 2009), The Century of Travel (CW Books, 2012), The String of Islands (Dink, 2015), Omnishambles (Bald Trickster, 2019) and Drips, Spills, Bursts, Tangles, and Washes (Cold River Press, 2024). His work has been published in many journals in the U.S. and abroad. He is also editor of Clade Song. He is the vice president and events coordinator of The Sacramento Poetry Alliance. He plays flutes, guitars, ukuleles, charangos and cavaquinhos. He currently teaches at California State University.Eve Imagine is a UC Davis MFA graduate and has been teaching as an adjunct English professor at Sacramento City College since 2004. She is a former high school teacher and also serves as a mentor for students at SCC, along with her teaching.The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature an evening with poets Tana Jean Welch and Tim Kahl at 7 PM on Thursday, September 19th, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 9/4/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Yolo County poet Joseph Finkleman calls in to discuss two-voice poems. He describes the process behind these poems, stating that he utilizes the tension between different speakers as a tool in his art making. Finkleman states that he uses dialogic traits, such as the ways couples finish each other's sentences, to inspire his poetic practices. He then shares a poem, “The Sacred Plans of Small Spaces” which was a fan favorite at the Natsoulas Gallery. Laura Renee Frautso is the next guest, and discusses her experience as a returning fellow at Creature Conserve. She describes the interdisciplinary work she does at Creature Conserve, which entails developing the organization's writing community. Frautso also describes the peer-review process that the magazine goes through, which synthesizes what one would expect from a poetry workshop and the scientific referring process. She then describes her participation in the Ohio Chapter of ArtsVote, where she tries to create networks that encourage individuals to vote.Joseph Finkleman was born in Hollywood California.  He graduated with a BFA and a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute.  He has studied literature in German, Spanish, Portuguese and English. He has been a Spoken Word Poet for 30+ years.  He and his wife Susan Finkleman have one chapbook of their two-voice poetry Picture Cloud Quilt/ Torn Silk by Rattlesnake Press.  They have two CDs of professionally recorded poems. Finkleman is a visual artist, having been in 117 exhibitions spanning the last fifty-six years.  In 2023 he finished his first graphic novel Happy Tooth.  He has written librettos for chamber opera, A Blank Page and You Who Know.Lauren Renee Frausto is a poet, editor, educator, and project manager. Her professional background is in motion graphics and publishing, and her academic background is in science literature and science writing. Her current research and creative writing focus on the use of metaphor in wildlife conservation science communication. You can find her writing in Cola Literary Review, Consilience Art and Science Journal, New Plains Review, and Raw Art Review.The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 9/4/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Joshua McKinney phones in to express his gratitude for having won Gunpowder Press’s John Ridland Poetry Prize. He describes the vision and meaning behind the artwork on the cover of his new book Sad Animal. McKinney then shares a sonnet titled “American Idiom” before discussing his schedule as a retired professor. Susan Kelly-DeWitt joins next and shares her praise for Gunpowder Press’s recent publications. She speaks about her longstanding involvement in the Sacramento Poetry Scene. Kelly-DeWitt also talks about the craft of her new release Frangible Operas. She then shares a poem about her upbringing in Oahu, “After the War.” before sharing the intricacies of her writing processes. Joshua McKinney’s fifth book of poetry, Sad Animal (Gunpowder Press, 2024), was the recipient of the John Ridland Poetry Prize. His work has appeared in such journals as Boulevard, Denver Quarterly, Kenyon Review, New American Writing, and many others. He is co-editor of the online ecopoetics journal, Clade Song.Susan Kelly-DeWitt is the author of The Fortunate Islands (Marick Press, 2008), Spider Season (Cold River Press, 2016), Gravitational Tug (Main Street Rag Publishers, 2020), Gatherers’ Alphabet (Gunpowder Press, 2022), and, most recently, Frangible Operas (Gunpowder Press, 2024). Earlier collections include A Camellia for Judy (Frith Press, 1998), Feather’s Hand (Swan Scythe Press, 2000), To A Small Moth (Poet’s Corner Press, 2001), Susan Kelly-DeWitt’s Greatest Hits (Pudding House, 2003), The Land (Rattlesnake Press, 2005), The Book of Insects (Spruce Street Press, 2003) and Cassiopeia Above the Banyan Tree (Rattlesnake Press, 2007) and an illustrated short story The Audience (Uptown Books, 2007). Her work has been included in many national and regional anthologies including The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry (Autumn House Press), When She Named Fire: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry by American Women  (Autumn House Press), In Whatever Houses We May Visit: An Anthology of Poems That Have Inspired Physicians (American College of Physicians) and Claiming the Spirit Within: A Sourcebook of Women’s Poetry (Beacon Press). Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Prairie Schooner, New Letters, North American Review and many others. Susan has been the recipient of  a Wallace Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University, The Chicago Literary Award from Another Chicago Magazine, the Bazzanella Award for Short Fiction and a number of Pushcart nominations.The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature an evening with poets Joshua McKinney and Susan Kelly-DeWitt at 7 PM on Thursday, September 5th, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 8/28/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Poet Gabrielle Meyers joins Dr. Andy to discuss her incremental writing habits along with the release of her new release Break Self: Feed. She shares a poem from the collection titled “Spring Agrodolce” and describes the pastoral origins of her collection. She then shares a poem titled “Everything We’ve Ever Loved Must and End Die and Reverse.” The next guest on the show is Carl Whithaus. He joins Dr. Andy in a discussion of the life and career of late UC Davis Lecturer John Boe. They recall John bringing joy and curiosity to the classroom and everyday life of academia through his comedic nature. Dr. Jane Beal is the last guest of the episode. Dr. Jane recounts an early memory of her first interaction with John Boe in London. She and Dr. Andy also recall John Boe’s work as an editor for Writing on the Edge, and describe John as a forebear of the UC Davis University Writing Program. She concludes by sharing a poem called “Perspective” that reminds her of John Boe.Gabrielle Meyers is a writer, professor, and chef. Her memoir, Hive-Mind, published in 2015, details her time of love, awakening, and tragic loss on an organic farm in the Sacramento Valley. Her first poetry book, Too Many Seeds, was published in 2021 by Finishing Line Press. Break Self: Feed is her second poetry book. Her third poetry book, Points in the Network, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in 2025. Her poetry has been published in the many acclaimed journals. Meyers is the Farm-to-Fork columnist for Inside Sacramento magazine. Access links to her many endeavors are through her website: www.gabriellemyers.comCarl Whithaus is a Professor of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of California, Davis. He has served as principal investigator for the journal Splash! milk science update since 2017 and as editor for the Journal of Writing Assessment since 2015.  Carl earned his Ph.D. at the City University of New York (CUNY); he has taught at Stevens Institute of Technology, Old Dominion University, and the University of California, DavisDr. Jane Beal is Professor of English Literature and recent past Chair of the English Department at the University of La Verne in southern California. She is also a Lecturer in the University Writing Program at UC Davis. She received her BA, MA, and PhD in English with specializations in medieval and early modern literature. She also received a Certificate in Midwifery from Mercy in Action College of Midwifery. She has taught at Wheaton College, Colorado Christian University, and the University of La Verne, as well as UC Davis, and served as a midwife in the U.S., Uganda, and the Philippines. She regularly publishes poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 8/7/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Mary B. Moore discusses the conceptual framework of her forthcoming poetry book Amanda Chimera. The collection is about a twin who passed in utero and spends her posthumous life haunting her living twin. Moore shares the title poem “Amanda Chimera” from her next publication. She then pays respect to the recently passed Sandra McPherson and recounts some UC Davis memories from her time in grad school. Cody Duncan is the next guest, and he shares some of his experience working in law, opening his own law firm, and moving back to California to work in tech law.  He discusses how his background in music production and coding has shaped his hot takes on Gen AI, IP, and sampling. He raises a point that the legislative protection of intellectual property may restrict potential production and further creative innovations. He also describes the dystopian novel he is working on, The Pane Constant. The episode concludes with Davis artist Thea Johnson sharing some details from her upcoming showcase at the John Natsoulas Gallery.Mary B. Moore’s forthcoming poetry collection Amanda Chimera, the Arthur Smith Poetry Prize winner, will be out in 2025 from Madville Publishing. Her latest poetry book is Dear If, published by Orison Books in 2022.  Poems are forthcoming in POETRY, Artemis and Cider Press Review, and appear lately in Catamaran, Birmingham Poetry Review (BPR), NELLE, Nimrod, Poetic Viva, and South Dakota Review. She received BPR’s 2023 Collins Prize; NELLE’s 2019 Three Sisters Award; several Finalist Awards from Terrain, and the Second Place award in Nimrod’s 2017 Pablo Neruda Prize.  Moore is a native Californian who moved to West Virginia to teach at Marshall University. She has a Ph.D. from the University of California Davis in Renaissance literature.A UC Davis Alumni and former KDVS DJ, Cody Duncan  studied at Duke Law where he helped launch a nonprofit privacy research organization, the Triangle Privacy Research Hub, in Durham, North Carolina, before going on to spend eight years working in-house at tech companies, including Lyft, and a global health nonprofit. Most recently, he launched his own law practice, C. Duncan Law, and began writing a dystopian detective novel.Thea Hudson, an oil painter and multimedia artist, voraciously invents new folkloric narratives populated with fantastical figures. In her two-person exhibition with Genevieve Ryan, Friends are Everywhere, they explore themes of connectedness and platonic love, venturing hand in hand through interactive video art, stained glass, and more with whimsical intensity. Thea and Genevieve both graduated from UC Davis, in 2022 and 2021 respectivelyFind out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@andyojones. Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 8/7/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Poet Mercedes Ibáñez shares her fondness for the Davis poetry community. She shares how her early life in Peru spawned her poetic aspirations, and how Poetry Nights In Davis have inspired her new work. Mercedes then shares two poems, “The Wolf” and “Celia and Sam,” both from her new book, Poems from the Roof. Jean Biegun then joins to discuss the publication of her new book Edge Effects. Jean describes what an Edge Effect is, the negative effects a plant or animal suffers when a human encroaches on their space. She then shares poems titled “Showdown” and “Limbo.”Mercedes Ibáñez is a poet and retired psychologist who was born in Perú and who has lived in Davis, California since 1976. The author of five books of poetry, Ibáñez won the National Award in Literature (Perú) in 1971. Ibáñez’s translation of Ezra Pound’s Hugh Selwyn Mauberley was published in 1973. Her 1977 book Caterpillars/Collective was introduced by Kate Millett. 2024 saw the publication of her new book, Poems from the Roof. The mother of two daughters, and a grandmother of four, Ibáñez is a crowd-favorite at the Poetry Night Reading Series at the Natsoulas Gallery in Davis.Jean Biegun’s poems have appeared in over 40 different journals, anthologies, and art exhibits, even in a state DNR annual calendar and a gumball machine at a poetry convention. Her chapbook Hitchhikers to Eden was published in 2022 and recently Edge Effects in 2024, both by Kelsay Books. The title poem “Edge Effects” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Gyroscope Review in 2022. Work this year has appeared in Ekstasis, Right Hand Pointing, Third Wednesday, Mad Swirl, Unbroken, Davis arts and culture newspaper The Dirt, and is forthcoming in Amethyst Review’s anthology Thin Places and Sacred Spaces.The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature an evening with poets Mercedes Ibáñez and Jean Biegun at 7 PM on Thursday, August 15th, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis. If the weather is nice, we may meet on the roof.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@andyojones. Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 8/7/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Rhony Bhopla joins in to discuss her feelings after winning the 2024 Pacific University Alumni Association’s Emerging Leader Award. She describes the gratitude she holds for her community that has recognized her for her hard work. Rhony then shares her thoughts on the important intersection of poetry and politics, and delineates ways to approach such rhetoric through the arts. Dr. Andy and Rhony then have a conversation about the many roles an instructor takes on and activism on college campuses. Dr. Andy delivers a brief story about spontaneous guest lectures from when he would teach his students outside before Rhony reads a two-part ecopoetic poem title she had previously read at Poetry Night at the Natsoulas Gallery. Rhony then describes balancing her creative interests, outlets, inspirations and profession.Rhony Bhopla is a British-Indo American poet, book critic, and visual artist. She is a Kwame Dawes Mapmakers Scholar and a recipient of a fellowship in the Anaphora Arts Emerging Critics Program. She will receive the 2024 Pacific University Alumni Association's Emerging Leader Award. Rhony serves as the Pacific University Vice President of the Alumni Association Board of Representatives, as the Board Chair of Women's Wisdom Art, and volunteers for the Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps. She works as a science educator for Sierra Nevada Journeys. She holds a Bachelor in Science in Biological Sciences with a minor in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Davis, and an MFA in Writing from Pacific University in Oregon.The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature an evening with poets Mercedes Ibáñez and Jean Biegun at 7 PM on Thursday, August 15th, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis. If the weather is nice, we may meet on the roof.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on X at https://twitter.com/andyojones.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 7/31 of Dr.Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Italian poet Laura Bertolini makes her return to Davis and discusses publishing her book in which she describes the people and experiences from her life in Davis. She then reads a poem titled “Breaths of The Night” in Italian and its English translation. Dave Boles joins to discuss the publication of this year's VOICES anthology. He describes the process of collecting poems for this specific issue to commemorate the late DR Wagner. Tim Kahl dials in to share how he went about deciding to submit a poem to this year's VOICES Anthology. He gives praise for the independent publisher Cold River Press, the Dave Boles press. Vicki Carroll describes how she went about crafting a poem to honor her late friend DR Wagner. She then shares her approaches to her various poetic projects and a poem titled “Nothing Is Perfect.”Laura Bertolini was born in Cecina, Tuscany, Italy. She lived in Davis from 2009 to 2020. She dedicated a collection to her life in California, published by Mds Editore in 2019. Today, she lives in Italy; she first lived in Tuscany and then moved to Turin. She has won poetry awards both in Italy and abroad. She has published with Italian publishers as well as through self-publishing. Today, she is working on her new poetry book E i sassi e i fiori (And the Stones and the Flowers). Dave Boles is a Publisher, Writer and Designer. Founder of the magazine Primal Urge, he also created the anthology Voices, which he publishes through his press, Cold River Press. He has published, designed, edited and written numerous books, articles, and periodicals, both nationally and internationally. Tim Kahl is the author of six books of poems, most recently Omnishambles (Bald Trickster, 2019), California Sijo (Bald Trickster, 2022) and Drips, Spills, Bursts, Tangles, and Washes (Cold River Press, 2024). He is also an editor of Clade Song [http://www.cladesong.com]. He builds flutes, plays them and plays guitars, ukuleles, charangos and cavaquinhos as well. He currently teaches at California State University, Sacramento, where he sings lieder while walking on campus between classes.Vicki Carroll, a Sacramento native enjoys poetry and the spoken word. She has been involved in workshops at Laguna Creek Valley High Library, and James Lee Jobe’s workshop in Davis, Tuesday night at Ethel Hart Senior Center, Nick La Force Friday afternoon workshop. Vicki has also been featured at Sac Poetry Center and published in Medusa’s Kitchen, Sacramento Voices 2018, and Sacramento Voices 2020-2024. She wrote a chapbook, Half a Chap, Vicki Carroll’s Bakers Dozen, and also joined The Sacramento Storytelling Guild in 2021. Authors from journal VOICES will be reading on August 1st at the John Natsoulas Gallery to honor and celebrate the life of D.R. Wagner. The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. This event is made possible by Kater-ina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 7/24/24 edition of Dr.Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Leanne Schwartz describes how she crafts her emotional, complex, and visceral young adult novels while still hitting her assigned deadlines. She shares a sample from her book A Darker Shore.. Stella Beratlis discusses how her career as a librarian informs her poetic verse, detailing how she often reads obscure reference books to inspire poetic ideas. She argues that poets can use their toolkits to write unique historical fictions, and shares a poem about a founding father of California’s central valley visiting current day Modesto, California. Dave Nachmanoff gives the scoop about his upcoming event at Watermelon Music where he will be playing his first album Candy Shower all the way though, and then reads a sequence of short James Joyce poems. Leanne Schwartz is the author of the young adult fantasies A Prayer for Vengeance and To a Darker Shore and the adult contemporary romcom My Kind of Trouble, writing as L.A. Schwartz. When she’s not teaching English and poetry, she can be found baking pizzelle, directing scenes for the student Shakespeare festival, and singing along to showtunes. She lives in San Diego with her family. Stella Beratlis is the author of Dust Bowl Venus (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2021). Her first collection, Alkali Sink, was shortlisted for the 2016 Northern California Book Awards. Beratlis served as Modesto’s poet laureate from 2016-2020, co-curates a long-running reading series for the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center, and works as a community college librarian.Dave Nachmanoff is a guitar virtuoso with a doctorate in philosophy, who performed with Libba Cotten as a child, and went on to tour for years with singer-songwriter Al Stewart. After playing thousands of shows from house concerts to the Royal Albert Hall, Nachmanoff has built a loyal fan base and a unique niche as a performing songwriter. SingOut! has praised his “heartfelt, inspired songwriting … with a delivery both biting and assured.”  Just Plain Folks honored him with the 2001 Songwriter of the Year award, and his songs have been recognized by many regional and national songwriting competitions. In 2023, Dave began to work with a couple of wonderful musicians called The Usual Culprits from Davis, CA. The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host is Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. This event is made possible by Katerina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on X at https://twitter.com/andyojones.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 7/17/24 edition of Dr.Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas discusses managing the overlapping releases of her two new books. She describes what inspired the titles of her new releases, and the reasoning behind splitting her new collection A Shared and Sacred Space half into formal verse and half into free verse. She then shares a poem from each collection, “The History of Soup” from A Shared and Sacred Space and “The Day I was a Visiting Second Grade Teacher” from A Handful of Stallions at Twilight. Rina Wakefield talks about her lifelong infatuation with poetry and literature, and the connection she feels with words themselves. She recounts balancing her love for libraries, archiving, writing, and platforming diverse voices. Rina then shares a poem titled “DNA.”Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas lives in the Sierra Foothills, Ca. She recently received her MFA in poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She’s a 13-time Pushcart Prize nominee and a seven-time Best of the Net nominee. In 2021 her book Alice in Ruby Slippers was shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize in Poetry. She has served as the Editor-in-Chief for both the Orchards Poetry and Tule Review. Rina Wakefield is a Spoken Word Poet, Podcast Producer, Poetry/Storytelling event Producer/Host. She is a collaborating member of Myrtle Tree Arts from Northern California. Rina is a Master’s Degree candidate studying Library Science with a focus on Rare Book Curation and Cultural Archives from San Jose State University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature from Sacramento State University. The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature an evening with poets Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas and Rina Wakefield at 7 PM on Thursday, July 18th, 2024, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on X at https://twitter.com/andyojones.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 7/3/24 edition of Dr.Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Susan Kelly-DeWitt discusses her various inspirations for her new book Frangible Operas, citing loss and aging as two thematic pillars for the collection. Susan also gives an insight into her writing process, then reads a poem about her adolescence in Oahu, titled “Poem After The War.” She read two more pieces, “Teaching Poetry in Prison,” and “Confluence,” while also elaborating on the validity of answering questions with poems. Michelle Bitting cites California native Joan Didion and Polish scientist Marie Curie as muses for her new book Dummy Ventriloquist, and describes how she tries to embrace ventriloquizing speech in her poetics. Michelle talks about a multitude of topics ranging from Oingo Boingo to science experiments in her garage, and reads a poem called “For Phil.” She also describes watching LA change over the years, and the importance of discovery drafts.Susan Kelly-DeWitt is a former Wallace Stegner Fellow and the author of Frangible Operas, which came out from Gunpowder Press this summer, 2024. She is also the author of Gravitational Tug, Gatherer’s Alphabet, Spider Season, The Fortunate Islands, and a number of other collections. Her past professional and writing life includes having been a reviewer for Library Journal, the editor-in-chief of the online journal Perihelion, the Program Director of the Sacramento Poetry Center and the Women’s Wisdom Arts Program, a Poet in the Schools and a Poet in the Prisons, a blogger for Coal Hill Review, and a longtime instructor for the UC Davis Division of Continuing Education. She is currently a member of the National Book Critics Circle, the Northern California Book Reviewers Association and a contributing editor for Poetry Flash. Please visit her website at www.susankelly-dewitt.comMichelle Bitting was short-listed for the 2023 CRAFT Character Sketch Challenge,  2020 Montreal International Poetry Prize, and was a finalist for the 2021 Coniston Prize and 2020 Reed Magazine Edwin Markham Prize. She is the author of five poetry collections, including Nightmares & Miracles, winner of the Wilder Prize and recently named one of Kirkus Reviews 2022 Best of Indie. Her chapbook Dummy Ventriloquist is being published this July from C & R Press. Recent poetry appears on The Slowdown, Thrush, Cleaver, The Poetry Society of New York’s Milk Press, and is featured as Poem of the Week in The Missouri Review. Bitting holds an MFA in Creative Writing and a PhD in Mythological Studies, emphasis Poetry and Psychology. She is writing a novel that centers around Los Angeles and her great grandmother, stage and screen actor Beryl Mercer, and is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and Literature at Loyola Marymount University. The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. This event is made possible by Katerina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series. Our next Poetry is on July 18 featuring Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas and Rina Wakefield!Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.

On the 7/3/24 edition of Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:Dorinda Wegener discusses the growth and organization of her newly released collection, Four Fields. She shares a poem written for her father. Much of her work begins with an image from the natural wold, and frequently helps her process pain. Wegener then reads a poem she wrote for her daughter as she was growing up. Rina Palumbo hones her love for the experimental into the curation process of the journal Third Street Review, a publication she founded. She explains a recent project that coordinates her interests by telling two stories in one novel. She also elaborates on the difficulties that arise when attempting to write historical fiction as someone with a PhD in History, as she has to suspend her knowledge of what was possible during periods. She reads some of a piece called “One Half of Newton's First Law.”Dorinda Wegener is a Poets & Writers Magazine 2024 Get The Word Out Poetry Cohort Participant. Her debut collection, Four Fields, launched in July 2024. Wegener has work, poems or essays, in LitHub, The Antioch Review, THRUSH, Mid-American Review, Indiana Review, Hotel Amerika, Hayden’s Ferry Review and Hunger Mountain. She is a Perianesthesia Certified Registered Nurse in Richmond, VA, who holds an MFA in Poetry from New England College, where she was a Joel Oppenheimer Award Recipient. You can find her on the web at www.dorindawegener.comRina Palumbo (she/her) is working on a novel and two nonfiction long-form writing projects alongside short fiction, creative nonfiction, and prose poetry. Her work appears in The Hopkins Review, Ghost Parachute, Milk Candy, Bending Genres, Anti-Heroin Chic, Identity Theory, Stonecoast Review, et al. https://rinapalumbowriter.com/The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on the first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, and by Thea and the other members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. This event is made possible by Katerina Hanks, producer of The Poetry Night Reading Series, with support from Helaina Flores and Cami Rothmuller.Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, visit his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andyojones.